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' (No Model.)

0. M. CHESNEY.

DORSET GLASP. No. 561,761. Patented June 9, 18976.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

()LIVER M. CHESNEY, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEJIALF TO JOHN M. MARCH AND HARRIS D. BOOGE, OF SAME PLACE.

CO RS ET-CLAS P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 561,761, dated June 9, 1896.

Application filed February 1, 1896. Serial No. 577,695. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, OLIVER M. OHESNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at T- peka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oorset-Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in corset-olasps, and has for its object to provide such a device which, when properly arranged upon the bust-stays of a corset, will permit the fastening of the meetin g edges thereof by simply snapping together, and will also permit their release by a single pull upon the ring provided for that purpose.

With these ends in view my invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction and operation in detail, referring by numbers to the accompanyin g drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 represents a figure having a corset thereon to which my improvement is applied; Fig. 2, a detailed view of the several clasps in the relative position which they occupy when secured upon the bust-steel; Fig. 3, a section taken at the line a in Fig. 2; Fig. i, a cross-section of one of the clasps, showing a staple secured thereby; Fig. 5, a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the corset being unfastened; and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a clamp embodying another form of my invention and which in most cases is the pre- Similar numbers denote like parts in the several views of the drawings.

In carrying out my invention it will be understood that a series of the clasps and a corresponding numbcr of staples are used, which are placed in position upon the bust-stays of a corset, and therefore a description of one of these olasps and staples will be applied equally to all of them.

1 is a casing which is made in rectangular form and provided with inwardly turned flanges 2, which serve to hold the slide 3 therein. This slide consists of a piece of sheet metal so blanked as to be guided by the innor wall of the casing and having a cut-away ing longitudinally therein.

5 is a housing which extends upward from the bottom of the casin g which serves to hold the coil-spring 6 in place, and this spring is so arranged as to hold the slide normally in the position shown in Fig. 2, when the tongue will lie across the hole '7, formed in the bottom of the casing.

The staple 8, which is adapted to project through the hole 7, is preferably of rectangular shape, as clearly shown in Fig. a, and its center cut away, so as to receive the tongue, and the nose of the latter is beveled, so that when the staple is passed through the hole and pressed against the tongue it will be forced backward against the action of its spring until the opening in the staple comes into alinement therewith, when the tongue will spring therein.

From this description the operation of my improvement is as follows: The desired number of clasps being placed upon one of the bust-steels and a corresponding number of staples upon the other, the meeting edges of the corset are secured together by forcing the staples through the holes '7, whereby the tongues are pressed backward, and fillc llyengage said staples, as above described; and when it becomes desirable to unfasten the corset the several slides are operated in unison by means of connections 9, which connect said slides by pulling upon the ring 10, which is connected with the top slide, so that when the wearer desires to remove her corset no time is lost or annoyance is occasioned in unclasping each fastening, as it is only necessary to exert a sufficient pull. upon the ring 10 when all of the clasps will be unfastened.

The form of my invention as embodied in Fig. 6 contemplates the omission of the housing and the use of a short length of wire 11, which is connected to the slide and projects through the casing, and a coil-spring 12, which is wound about said wire between the slide and end of the casing, which serves the same purpose as that described in connection with the spring 6. 13 is also a short length of wire center, which produces a tongue 4-, projectv connected to the lower end of the slide and projects through the casing, and these two lengths of wire have connected thereto a chain 14, which serves to connect the slides of the several clasps upon a single bust-stay. This arrangement permits the free movement of the body of the wearer of the corset and the conforming of the bust-stays thereto, as the chain forms flexible sections which are not cramped by movement. Flexible cords may be substituted for the chains, which will produce the same result The advantages of this device will be'obvious to the wearers of corsets, consisting of the readiness With which the meeting edges of the corset may be fastened and the security with which they are held when once fastened, as it is impossible for the clasps to become accidentally unfastened, and the small consumption of time necessary to remove the corset when my improvement is applied.

In the application of my improved corset the several parts thereof may be partly or wholly concealed by properly-arran ged shears or pockets stitched in the fabric of which the corset is composed, as will be readily understood.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is- In combination a casing having end apertures and central openings in the sides of the same, a slide guided by the inner walls of the casing, and having a cut-away center producing a tongue, said tongue having a beveled end, a staple 8, having a cut-away portion to receive the tongue, connections for operating the slide, and springs connected with the connections whereby the slide and connections are held in a locked position, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signaturein the presence of two sulr scribing witnesses.

OLIVER M. Cl-IESNEY, \Vitnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, F. S. APPLEMAN. 

